January 29, 2014

What I've Been Loving (January 2014)

I've never understood why people associate January as the month that's most depressive or why there's 'Blue Monday'. Heck, why not a 'Pink Saturday' every month? Aside from my rant, January has been one crazy, hectic month for me. My semester is ending and that came with lots of deadlines of projects, reports, essays, presentations and well... lots of Uni things. Right now I'm done with my exams and those deadlines, but I'm prepping for another battle already - my graduation. I'm going to write my thesis starting from next week Monday and that means I'll have to start commuting horrible hours. Yikes. With the stress that's coming for me and the stress I've had in the past month, these bits have dragged me through and made almost every evening facial worthy. Except those all-nighters.

You probably know that I've been on a roller coaster ride the past few months with my skin. Quite honestly, around 5 months ago my skin really acted up badly and my face was like the Mount Everest overnight. 5 months later, my skin is looking a whole lot better compared to the beginning, though still not nearly as close to what my skin looked like before the major breakout. With my hormone and stress levels going up and down during the past month, I've been using a combo on my face which I've been dubbing as 'the Dream Team' for obvious reasons.

Aesop Purifying Facial Cream Cleanser is really gentle and lovely on the skin. It's a cream to clay cleanser which smells really relaxing, so it's great after a long day. I use this as a second cleanse, after removing my make up and just massage it onto my skin. It calms the skin down and is very nourishing at the same time. I follow up with the Foreo LUNA (the one for combination skin - blue) to massage the product into my skin and to cleanse the skin. If you're not sure how to use it, I've written a - rather lengthy - review on it which you can check out here. But in short, I just wet it a bit and go around my face in circular motions and repeat. When I'm done I just rinse my face with lukewarm water and my skin feels like new and super smooth. The results are shown the next morning as my skin looks so much calmer and less red. I don't use it every night as I like to switch things up, but I might do so. I love the Luna because it's so gentle on the skin, even if you've got blemishes. I've said it many times and I'll say it again, it's the best product to splurge on as it's like you've had a facial done, every day, at the comfort of your own home.

After that I follow up with my Melvita Rose Water and spritz that all over my face, pat it in and let it sink in. I love rose toners as they are natural astringents, meaning they regulate sebum production and are perfect for sensitive skin. Once that's sunken in I usually apply my eye cream first (I use Kiehls Creamy Eye Treatment in case you're wondering) and apply JUJUCOSMETICS AquaMoist Hyaluronic Acid Essenceall over my skin. It's a treatment made out of 100% Hyaluronic Acid so it's very hydrating and my de-hydrated skin just drinks this up in a few seconds. I do think texture-wise it is similar to Indeed Labs' Hyaluron, but then again, I've only tried that on the back of my hand. After the Essence, I then follow up with a nice and thick moisturiser. This month I've been particularly loving Therapi's Lemon Myrtle Honey Moisturiser, which is as lovely as it smells. More on the line here. So this is what I've been using on my face in January, and although it kinda looks and sounds like a skincare routine post, it wasn't done intentionally.

Which skincare products have you been loving throughout the past month?

I'm not quite familiar with the Canadian retail points, so I can't help you with that... So sorry! Beauty Expert does carry the product though, so if you wouldn't mind ordering it online, that'd be your best shot.